The Old Man and the Sea is a 1952 novella written by the American author Ernest Hemingway. Written between December 1950 and February 1951, it was the last major fictional work Hemingway published during his lifetime. It tells the story of Santiago, an aging fisherman, and his long struggle to catch a giant marlin. The novella was highly anticipated and was released to record sales; the initial critical reception was equally positive, but attitudes have varied significantly since then.
Original book cover
Hemingway at the Finca Vigía, his Cuban residence where he wrote The Old Man and the Sea, in 1946.
Image: Ernest Hemingway Aboard the Pilar 1935 NARA 192674
Image: Ernest Hemingway 1950
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Best known for an economical, understated style that significantly influenced later 20th-century writers, he is often romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle, and outspoken and blunt public image. Most of Hemingway's works were published between the mid-1920s and mid-1950s, including seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works. His writings have become classics of American literature; he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature, while three of his novels, four short-story collections and three nonfiction works were published posthumously.
Hemingway working on For Whom the Bell Tolls at the Sun Valley Lodge, 1939
Hemingway was the second child and first son born to Clarence and Grace.
Hemingway in uniform in Milan in 1918, where he drove ambulances for two months until he was wounded.
Hemingway's 1923 passport photo; at this time, he lived in Paris with his wife Hadley and worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star Weekly.